Letters to The Vancouver Sun: Raising taxes on B.C.’s higher earners unlikely to chase them away

Re. David Eby pitches new tax hikes for highest earners

Everyone in B.C. currently owes about $27,000 in provincial debt. Our interest on it is about $5 billion a year. Nobody wants services cut, and cutting wasted spending is unlikely to cover the deficit, never mind the debt. Selling more of our finite resources is short-sighted, but we need to raise revenue, and B.C.’s income taxes are almost the lowest in the country. The lower earners are already suffering. I’m sure we can raise income taxes on the higher earners a little without chasing them away, but Premier David Eby’s plan only raises an estimated $1 billion a year. The elephant in the room is accumulated wealth, not income. How about a mechanism for voluntary contributions that would only go toward the debt? The decrease in debt service cost frees up money for better use. Surely wealthy and proud B.C.ers would pony up, especially with incentives. High-rate savings bonds?

Gavin Miller, Van Anda 

Re. Reading has been reduced to skimming, but newspapers can help open minds

Calvin White’s opinion piece confirms my long-held belief that the Internet and the addiction to cellphones make people, especially the younger generation, lose their interest in learning about affairs of the world, local events, accomplishments of others, as well as a chance to be exposed to different viewpoints, opinions and experiences of others.

Just because people are fascinated by the latest technology should not mean that educational institutions should rely so heavily on it. After all, humans have achieved great things throughout the ages just by using the ability of the mind to be curious and search for deeper meaning, to learn and discover, and to think critically. Reading different texts written by journalists, scholars, scientists and thinkers widens intellectual horizons. Teachers, especially, should place great emphasis on reading, not only prescribed literary works, but also newspapers, and encourage their students to engage in lively discussions and share their thoughts and opinions with each other.

Katarzyna Laskowska, Surrey

Re: UBC student fights back after smoke from wildfires causes health issues

Thanks to Sun reporter Tiffany Crawford for the report about the 15 children from across Canada whose lawsuit against the Canadian government, first filed in 2019, has finally made it to federal court here in Vancouver this October. The children, some of whom are young adults now, seek a declaration that the government’s climate policies and practices violate their Charter rights. The lawsuit simply asks for the government to develop a climate recovery plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to renewable energy. As a retired senior, I am proud of these brave youngsters for taking this case forward, and embarrassed that my generation has left it to them to fight for the right to breathe clean air and live healthy lives free from climate anxiety.

Richard Hoover, Delta 

Re: The system has failed my son

Thank you, Aaron Beswick, for turning the spotlight on to severe psychotic illness. The “system” — our much-vaunted health-care system — is failing people living with schizophrenia. I hope that this story will increase public awareness of schizophrenia — a brain disorder that, until recently, has just hummed along in the background, afflicting about one per cent of the population, destroying lives and devastating families. Now, however, it has become apparent that cannabis triggers schizophrenia in some people who might not otherwise have developed it. There has been an uptick in new cases over the past decade, which can be traced to the time that pot was legalized in Canada.

I abhor the idea of young people becoming addicted to drugs such as cannabis, and I am grateful for this story. A good first step would be for Health Canada to start treating cannabis with the same relentless determination to eradicate it that they now do with tobacco. I hope that it will also increase public awareness of schizophrenia.

For families in distress, hope is offered by a new Canada-wide organization, Family Alliance on Severe Mental Illnesses.

Marilyn Baker, Richmond